MANILA, Philippines — Kapamilya actress Charlie Dizon shared her training experience from being a K-pop artist in South Korea.
In an exclusive interview with Philstar.com, the star of Metro Manila Film Festival 2020 entry “Fan Girl” said that she had been a K-pop fan since she was young. So when she heard about an audition held by a Korean entertainment company in the Philippines, she did not pass the chance to audition, which eventually earned her a ticket to train as a K-pop idol.
"Super excited po talaga ako kasi parang 'yun po 'yung first audition na pinasahan ko talaga," she shared.
During her training, she would fly to South Korea every three months. According to her, being a K-pop trainee in Korea is just like in the Philippines where people are also talking about showbiz personalities.
“Kasi ako no'ng nag-training ako sa Korea talagang naririnig ko na may ganong stories talaga. Parang ang galing nga e. No'ng nandon po ako parang naririnig ko sila kung paano rin magkwentuhan 'yong mga tao dito, 'yong pinaguusapan nila 'yung mga artista, may gano'n din pong side sila talaga,” Charlie said.
During her training, she became close to Nancy McDonie, now part of famous K-pop girl group Momoland, because only the two of them can speak English in their batch. Whenever Nancy is in the Philippines, Charlie said they make sure to meet. In fact, Nancy was supposed to give her a tour in Seoul if the pandemic did not happen.
Charlie, however, was unable to debut as a K-pop star due to problems in her work contract.
"Ang nangyari po nu'ng una puro three months, three months ako pumupunta, puro tourist visa tapos ineextend na lang... Pero 'yun, 'di na rin po natuloy. Nag-decide na lang po ako na mag-aral na lang po."
She admitted that she and her parents were frustrated that her K-pop dreams did not come true.
"Ma-frufrustrate na rin po 'yung parents ko nu'ng time na 'yun... Nu'ng 'di natuloy, 'yun na po siguro 'yung pinakamasakit na nangyari (sa'kin)."
Although she did not become a K-pop idol, Charlie became part of Star Magic Circle in 2018 and has since starred in movies like "Pandanggo sa Hukay" and TV series like "A Soldier's Heart."
For those whose dreams were put on hold because of the pandemic, especially for the youth, Charlie advised: “Kapit lang po. Gusto ko lang sabihin na lahat naman po ng paghihirap nalalagpasan natin and sana mahanap nila yung hobby nila or interest na madiscover nila yung skills nila this pandemic. Halimbawa, nasa bahay lang sila, sana may ma-discover sila sa sarili nila para maging masaya sila. Malay mo, mag-branch out 'yung ideas nila and makatulong pa sa future nila. Ayon po, gusto kong mahanap nila 'yong magpapasaya sa kanila."
Star Cinema takes us back to the time when iconic siblings Teddie, Bobbie, Alex and Gabbie Salazar deal with challenges and heartaches in "Four Sisters Before The Wedding."
Topbilled by Alexa Ilacad (Bobbie), Charlie Dizon (Teddie), Gillian Vicencio (Alex) and Belle Mariano (Gabbie), "Four Sisters Before The Wedding" is a prequel to the 2013-hit movie ‘Four Sisters and A Wedding.’
Helmed this time by blockbuster director Mae Cruz Alviar, the prequel movie is set 10 years before their lives in the original movie). Teddie, Bobbie, Alex are in college while Gabbie is in high-school, and their youngest sibling CJ (played by Clarence Delgado) is in elementary.
Their blissful innocence and family unity are tested when they discover that their parents – Mama Grace (this time played by Carmina Villarroel) and Papa Caloy (Dominic Ochoa), whom the audience will be meeting in this movie for the first time -- are once again on the verge of separation. They’ve grown up enough to know that a biscuit offering will not easily solve their parents’ marital problems this time around.
In the original movie, the Salazar sisters were portrayed by Bea Alonzo (Bobbie), Toni Gonzaga (Teddie), Angel Locsin (Alex) and Shaina Magdayao (Gabbie). The characters Mama Grace and CJ were notably played by Coney Reyes and Enchong Dee, respectively. The dad, meanwhile, passed before 2013 — this eventually pushed Bobbie to live and work abroad. "Four Sisters and A Wedding" was directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina.
‘Four Sisters Before The Wedding’ serves as Star Cinema’s early Christmas offering this 2020, despite the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. It was first announced in February.
“Kakayanin ko!” says Alexa when she was chosen to play the role of young Bobbie. The former child star has already appeared in several movies of ABS-CBN Films, including ‘Everything About Her’ in 2016, "Finally Found Someone" in 2017, and "Open," a co-production of Black Sheep and T-rex Entertainment, in 2018. She has also portrayed remarkable characters in teleseryes like Justine in "The Good Son’ and Luna in ‘The Killer Bride."
For Charlie, playing as young Teddie is “nakakakilig and nakaka-pressure at the same time.” The 24-year old actress has starred in several projects such as "Seven Sundays," teleserye Bagani," and the upcoming MMFF entry "Fan Girl," which recently made headlines as it entered Tokyo International Film Festival in Japan and Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia.
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"Four Sisters Before The Wedding" streams worldwide beginning December 11 via KTX.ph (ktx.ph), iWantTFC (iwanttfc.com), TFC IPTV, Cignal PPV (my.cignal.tv), and Sky Cable pay-per-view (mysky.com.ph). This is distributed by CineXpress.
In a recent virtual press conference for the movie, “Four Sisters Before The Wedding” director Mae Cruz Alviar admitted that she felt the pressure of directing the prequel given the first movie's success.
“At that point, high ang emotions ko talaga that any project, whatever you give me, just so I could do my part to help, just so I can help create new content for the company, go, kung ano man iyan. So nu'ng sinabi ni Inang, sabi ko yes, go,” Mae said.
“Noong tapos na 'yung call, nu'ng ilang days na, nag-sink-in sa akin kung ano ba itong pinasok ko. Tama ba 'yung decision ko na tanggapin yung project, eh ‘Four Sisters’ iyan. Come on, napakalaking pelikula. Up to this day, it’s so relevant still. Hindi mamatay-matay yung popularity niya. It’s such a classic film,” she added.
Mae, however, said that she did not let the pressure get in the way so she can be able to deliver.
“The focus is to really isipin what will motivate me, what will motivate the team and everyone. I think we achieved that naman because we are happy with the output. We are happy sa naging samahan namin on set and the way we did it. Ang pressure, we set it aside and we all worked hard together to come up with this beautiful team."